Blotnik

Concepts

• There is a organised temple/church made up of primarily druids and clerics (nature domain) who are the priesthood of Zycius in this land. This organisation is not limited by regional borders, and its members are free to travel through all Riverfolk lands. This organisation exists outside of the geopolitics of the Riverlords, and the Riverlords are in some situations obligated/expected to follow its orders and demand. The group is seen as the direct servants of Zycius, and thus the land, therefore one might say that they are almost like the true rulers of the Riverfolk, though they do little ruling outside of religous matters. The leader of this faction is the leader of the faith surrounding Zycius, and in many ways the cultural as well as spiritual head of the Riverfolk.
• There was once only a single Riverlord, and he had one advisory position in his court given to a druid, who was appointed by the leader of the faith. They would oversee most druids working on bettering the lordship. However, in our modern age, where there are many Riverlords, there are also many of these druid advisors. It is tradition for a Riverlord to have a druid advisor who manages the more local business that conern the druid. Furthermore, these advisory druids hold the power to choose whom shall become the next Riverlord, as when one Riverlord dies one of their children is choosen by this druid to inherit the title. These druid advisors are primarily loyal to the head of faith, but in practice they mostly help and serve their Riverlord.
• The Riverfolk's culture is centered around Zycius, their god, who once ruled all of existence, and is regarded by the Riverfolk as the one and only true god. However, they see the other gods as thieves, who stole existence from Zycius, leaving him with only The River Zycius, where they now live. Zycius is the land, and as such they treat it with respect and love. All the resources of the land are seen as holy gifts from Zycius. Because of this excess is seen as a sin, and not respected. People are instead expected to live humble lives, and not to take more then they need to live decently. This sort of thinking extends into all parts of Riverfolk life, with some obvious examples being: They do not wage war in a traditional way, instead war is waged through skirmishing. This way no structures or nature is destroyed in warfare. The Riverfolk do not command armies, instead they fight one another until the enemies soldiers are few enough for an honourable surrender. Then the lands of the one defeated are given over, and the transaction is accepted by the faith, and so it is done. The former Riverlord, if usurped entirely is typically ordered to be "returned", which means that his throat is slit, and he is thrown into the river, where he gives back his life to Zycius. Being returned is an honour, and those who have acted dishonorably are burned which is seemed as shameful, with their death surving Zycius no purpose.
• Most Riverfolk villages are built on the sides of a part of the river, with a Riverfort in the middle. These forts are meant for three purposes. First they are where the resident Riverlord or local ruler lives with his family, and typically his personal retinue. Second, they are used to store the settlements food. Third, they are defensive structures if foreign invaders come, in which case they shall be used to house the settlements people, and feed them using the stored up food incase of a siege.
• Dinasaf and Malakres are the only true cities the Riverfolk have. Dinasaf sits where the river is thickest, it stretches nearly 8 miles during rainy periods, and 5-6 during less rainy periods, and in the middle of it lies a large island, which the druids claim they brought from the ground up with the help of Zycius in order to found their holy city. Dinasaf is however not ruled by a Riverlord. Since there is no single Riverlord of the Riverfolk, the faith has instead taken the holy city under their management until their people are once more united under a ruler who places the good of all their people and land first. Now, the head of faith has appointed a council of eleven to rule the city and manage it.
• Malakres is the other city, and though much smaller, it is still very important to the Riverfolk. See Malakres is, among other things, home to the only place of study within the Riverfolks land. There is a relatively big scholarly community in this settlement. Now. interestingly, this settlements ownership is heavily disputed. Currently the city is split betweem three different Riverlords, each one ruling over a section of the city, and each one at war the other two. As such, up until 5-8 miles outside of the city is the battleground for these Riverlords and their men. The only way to enter or exit the city is under the guidance of a druid of the faith, bearing the symbol of the faith. With that nobody will attack you, otherwise, any soldiers of the three Riverlords might try and eliminate you, as you are in the combat zone. Inside the city is safe however, and the intellectual community is alive and prospering, with a steadily growing library as well as collage to support studies of many different kinds. The collage is one of the few, if not the only, example/examples of a non Riverfolk person being of any real importance to the people, as the collage is "owned", managed, and funded by an elven lady from Zhun, who was once a princess but choose to leave her life behind, choosing instead to live a modest lifestyle here in Malakres, and to put her fortune to use in buildings a collage. She has built it completely from resources gathered outside of Riverfolk land, in order to apease the faith of the land. In fact, she is on good terms with nearly everyone, and she herself teaches children in her freetime, giving out free lessons in writing and reading.